Family Business
by Mary Elaine
Summary: Lee and Amanda have been married for a while


Title: Family Business

Time Frame: Lee and Amanda have been married for a while.

Rating: PG for some violence.

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Amanda stretched lazily as the morning sunlight filtered through the bedroom windows. She couldn't remember when she'd been so content, happy, and totally in love. She looked around the room for her husband of 3 weeks and noticed he didn't seem to be in the room.

With her Mother and the boys out of town for the week, Lee and Amanda had been able to spend a little quality time together. "Lee, where are you?" she asked. The only answer she got was silence. She got up and put her robe and slippers on and went down stairs, hoping to find him down there. She walked into the kitchen and found him staring out the window, lost in thought. She went up behind him and put her arms around his waist.

"Good morning Mr.Stetson " 

"Good morning yourself Mrs. Stetson," Lee said as he turned around and kissed her good morning. Amanda could sense something was wrong this morning. 

"Lee what's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh…nothing Amanda."

"Lee come on. I know you too well. Please tell me what's wrong."

Lee sighed. He knew there was no use in hiding what was on his mind to this woman that he loved more than life.

"Amanda, I think you should quit the agency." 

"Quit?" Amanda repeated. "Why? Lee I love working there and especially working with you, being your partner."

"I know you do Amanda, but after what happened with Birol I can't let you put yourself in danger. I would not be able to live with myself if something happened to you! Besides we could go public with our marriage and not hide it from everyone. Amanda I hate sneaking around and having no one know that I love you."

"Oh Lee," Amanda sighed. She understood what Lee meant. But she loved her job at the agency and she really and truly liked everyone who worked there. "Lee you and I are partners. You're in just as much danger as I am every day. I mean I know you've been doing this longer but I'm in training and you've already been training me for almost four years." 

"Amanda I'm not going to fight with you on this. I want you to quit. I don't care if you work somewhere else but I can't handle worrying about you everyday and wondering whether you're okay or not." 

"I'm not quitting Lee. It's not fair. If it weren't for this job you and I wouldn't have even met. Now I'm going to go upstairs and get ready for work." Amanda ran upstairs to avoid further argument and so Lee wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. As she was getting in their bedroom she heard the door slam and the corvette leave. Why doesn't he really want me working with him, she wondered?

"Scarecrow just left. Let's go grab the woman," Tony said. "Ill make him rue the day he ever messed with the family!"

Amanda was just stepping out of the shower when she heard the door downstairs open. He came back, she thought. He must have had time to think about it and cool off. Amanda hurriedly put her clothes on and went downstairs. The meanest looking man she had ever see, laughing at her was the last vision Amanda saw before her world went black.

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Lee walked back in the house feeling like a jerk. He hadn't meant to fight with Amanda this morning. He was just so worried about her and he didn't want to lose the only family he'd ever had. When he stormed out he hadn't any clue as to what to do. He'd driven around for awhile and

had come to terms with the fact that Amanda was going to work with him. She'd just have to be extra careful.

"Amanda?" Lee called. "Where are you?" Silence was the only thing that greeted him. "Amanda! Where are you?" Alarm bells started to go off in his head. Her car was still in the driveway and their bedroom was a mess. That wasn't like her. As a cold fist of fear hit Lee he realized he had no idea where to look for her. 

Amanda's first sensation was that her head hurt her like it had never hurt before. Her second realization was that Lee had no idea where she was and that scared her more than anything. She tried to look around and get her bearings but the room was pitch black and she was chained to what felt like a bed. "Oh Lee. If I ever get out of this I'll quit I promise!" she said to herself. 

Lee made it to the agency in record time. 

Billy met him at the elevator doors. "Scarecrow what is it?" Billy asked. He could see the panic in his eyes.

"Amanda's been kidnapped Billy and I don't have anything to go on!"

"Maybe there will be a ransom demand Lee. You need to go home and wait there." 

"You want me to go home and wait?" Lee asked incredulously. "My wife has just been kidnapped by God only knows who and I'm supposed to just go home and wait?"

"Keep your voice down Lee right now I'm the only one that knows about your secret marriage and if you want to keep it that way I suggest we go into my office and talk this thru and see what answers we can come with." 

Just then Francine rounded the corner and saw the worry in Lee's eyes. "What's wrong Lee?"

"Amanda's been kidnapped Francine and I don't have a clue who has taken her. I ah .... went to pick her up this morning for work because she was having car trouble. When I got there , there was no trace of her. Her car is there, her keys are there, her purse is there but, she's no where to be found!" Lee said with a desperation that Francine had never heard before. 

"Francine run a scan on all of Lee and Amanda's cases. See who might have just gotten out of jail. Let's see if we can pinpoint what's happened. Do all of Lee's solo cases too! ASAP! And you Scarecrow as I said before need to go back to the house and see what clues you can come

up with." Lee started to say something and Billy stopped him. "Don't make me tell you again Scarecrow. Get moving."

Amanda sat in the darkness trying to get her wits about her. She knew she was in trouble. As far as she knew there were no clues left for Lee to find her and that really scared her. She'd not been this scared when Birol had kidnapped her. She at least knew that Lee knew where she was then. "Oh Lee will I ever see you again. I'm sorry that we fought today. I'm sorry my last words were words of anger ." She whispered into the darkness. " Please find me!"

She heard footsteps coming down the hall and heard a key being inserted into the lock. She had to shield her eyes because the light was so intense. 

"Come on Mrs. King, someone here who wants to make your acquaintance." The man unlocked Amanda from the chain that held her and roughly jerked her to her feet and dragged her into the hall. She looked around to see that she was in some type of old apartment building. But, she couldn't be sure because she only caught a glimpse before being blindfolded. She tried to listen to her surroundings but all she heard was deafening silence. Her captor opened a door and shoved her through. She fell hard on the floor and felt her leg crack and pain shoot up through it. "Oh Lee, where are you?" she thought at the same time that Lee was praying for her safety. "Hang on Amanda. I will find you and who ever has you will pay."

"Hello Mrs. King. We've never met and please believe me when I tell you this isn't personal but I plan on hurting you as much as Scarecrow hurt me. When we met up nine years ago he destroyed my life. So, I will promise to be as quick as possible with you and I do plan on leaving clues for him as to lure him here so that I can make his life a living hell. So Mrs. King you'll forgive me but I need a little blood from you and I also am going to need your shirt."

Amanda was savagely hit across the mouth, which drew blood and her shirt was torn from her body and wiped across her face.

"Not to worry Mrs. King, or should I say Mrs. Stetson." at the look of surprise which Amanda tried to mask her captor just laughed and continued on. " I have a shirt for you to put on and in the process ensure that you don't try to escape. And since I want you to be able to see everything I think I will take the blindfold off." 

Amanda saw that even if she'd had a way out of this she couldn't have gotten out if she wanted pick it wouldn't do any good because he was putting her in a straight jacket. Once they had put it on her he said "Good night Mrs. Stetson," and injected her with some kind of drug. The last thought she had as darkness overtook her was of her family and Lee and she wondered if she'd ever see them again.

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Lee was pacing like a caged animal at the house. When the phone rang he pounced on it. "Amanda?" he asked.

All he heard was soft laughter and a disgusted voice say "If you want to see your wife alive again be at the Old Webber Hotel in 30 minutes and come alone. No tricks!"

"Let me talk to her!"

Lee said but they'd hung up already. He called Billy and told him about the call and where he was going.

"We'll be right there behind you Scarecrow." 

"No! Billy he said alone or he'd kill her and I'm not taking that chance."

"Scarecrow you know better. You know I'm not gonna let you go in alone."

"Billy I'm not gonna endanger her life by going with a whole SWAT team!"

"Scarecrow use your head, man! You going in alone and getting yourself killed isn't going to do Amanda any good."

"Okay Billy you win, but I want at least 30 minutes before you even get there. I think I can get her out by myself." 

"Okay Scarecrow. You've got it!" Billy hung up. Scarecrow took off at top speed. Oh dear God, he thought, let her be okay. I hated the way things were left this morning and it's all my fault she's in the mess. Please let her be okay! Lee's cellphone started to ring. "Stetson," Lee answered.

"Lee ,Francine ran a check on that Old hotel. It is due to be demolished today at 10:30," said Billy's worried voice

"What!? Dear God, no! We've only got 1 hour to get her out!" Lee yelled into his phone.

"I'm sending a team in there now Scarecrow!"

"Alright I'll meet you there Billy " Lee said as he hung up the phone. Hang on Amanda I'm coming for you with the whole cavalry with me.

As Amanda started to wake up, she felt a searing pain in her left leg. She was able to sit up and look at it. She noticed a small pool of blood where the bone had broken through. She heard footsteps again and the door opened.

"Ah it's so good to see you awake Mrs. Stetson. We're going to have a little bit of fun with you before we leave you. See we don't plan on being here when your dear husband gets here. You see this building is going to be demolished in less than an hour. But before we go lets see how much of my wonder cocktail you can take." A hypodermic needle was produced and brought to Amanda's arm. "No one yet has been able to stand this much of my wonder drug. Unless your given the antidote to it within 24 hours you're a vegetable the rest of your life! Doesn't really matter right now because you'll be dead in less than an hour but it'll be fun watching you make a fool of yourself for a few minutes." He injected Amanda with the drug and they left the room. Amanda was frantic with worry. She knew they had contacted Lee and he was on his way.

"Please find me Lee I don't want to die!" Her eyes filled with tears as she thought back on the wasted time that they had spent before they finally figured out they loved each other. "Oh Lee I'm so sorry." Amanda could feel the drug starting to take effect. The room was starting to spin and she was starting to see things move. "Oh dear God a giant spider. I need to kill but there's nothing to kill it with!" She got as far back as she could and started to cry. All of the sudden the spider turned into Lee. "Lee." Amanda breathed and tried to run towards him but her leg wouldn't support her weight. Lee just stood there with his brilliant eyes shining and just stood there laughing at her. 

"Why are you laughing at me Lee. Help me up and let's get out of here. The building's going to blow!" Amanda tried to get up and go to him but the pain in her leg was so intense that she passed out again and landed on the floor with a thud.

Lee entered the once grand hotel from the rear. He didn't have time to search every room in this hotel for her and he was scared for Amanda and for himself. Time was ticking and he had to find her quickly. 

As he moved forward he saw a blood stained blouse. "Oh God, no not Amanda." He thought as he picked it up he saw a 737 written in the blood on the blouse. He raced up the stairs to the 7th floor. When he reached room 737 he was met with laughter. As he turned around he heard a bullet fly past his head and embed itself in the wall.

"Barnes! I should have known it was you" A shot rang out at the same time Lee lunged for Barnes. Lee attacked the man but the move was not needed for Barnes lay dead. Billy had shot him before he had a chance to shoot at Lee again. 

"Thanks Billy."

"We've got to get out of here now. GO get Amanda and get out of here!" Billy said urgently.

Lee wasn't sure what to expect when he went into the room. What he didn't expect to see was Amanda huddled on the floor swatting at the air the best she could with a straight jacket on. All that was really moving was her shoulders.. He could tell at once she'd been drugged and he also noticed her leg. He ran over to hear and cradled her as gently as possible in his arms. "Amanda? Amanda it's me Lee." All Amanda did was whimper and pass out. 

Laying next to her he also found the hypodermic needle that had been used for Barnes ' Wonder Cocktail.' "I've got to get this to Billy and get her to a hospital as quickly as possible" 

"Billy get an ambulance here now and alert the agency's doctors that we need the antidote to 'Starburst'. "

"Starburst? Are you sure?" Billy asked as they raced down the stairs.

"This is his special drug and the symptoms are just like they always are. She's got 24 hours before she's turned into a vegetable. If she doesn't get that antidote she'll never be the same!" 

As they got outside and the paramedics started to work on Amanda, Lee told them they needed to work on her in the ambulance. The building was due to blow up any minute.

Amanda was going in and out of consciousness and was behaving erratically. Lee tried to calm her but it was no use. With the drugs in her system she wouldn't let anyone touch her and the paramedics were not having much luck in keeping her quiet. They finally got her strapped on to the gurney and gave her a sedative to try and keep her still so as not to damage her leg anymore.

Lee was pacing back and forth in the waiting room worried about Amanda. They'd been here at the hospital for five hours and he couldn't find out anything. As soon as they arrived they had whisked her away. The doctor briefly had come in and gotten Lee's permission to operate on her leg. She'd broken in it in three places. Amanda was going to be in pain for awhile. 

As for the drugs, the agency's doctors had met them at the hospital with the antidote and had administered it right away.

"Mr. Stetson? I'm Dr. Lewis. Your wife is resting comfortably in recovery right now. Her leg will be almost as good as new but it will take awhile. She's been through quite a bit and she's going to need your love and support for the next couple of months."

"Can I go see her?"

"Yes go ahead, she's not awake but you can sit with her."

Lee walked into her room and was struck by how fragile she looked. They had her bed surrounded by machines and her leg was propped up. Her face was covered with bruises where she'd been hit. "Oh Amanda. I love you. I'm so sorry about everything. I'm sorry about our fight. If you want to work at the agency and be my partner I'll be pleased to have you. At least that way I know you're safe. You are my life. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. I love you Amanda Stetson." 

"I love you too Lee," she whispered.

"Amanda? Thank God! I was so afraid I was not going to see you again!"

"I knew you'd come for me Lee. So tired…Stay with me until I fall asleep." 

"Sweetheart I'll stay with you the rest of our lives." Lee bent down and kissed her the most tenderly he'd ever kissed her and she drifted off to sleep. 

Amanda woke up the next morning disoriented. "Lee are you here?"

"I'm right here."

"Where am I? What happened?"

Lee explained what had happened in the last 24 hours. He explained that Barnes had been a major kingpin in the Mafia that what active in Washington D.C. When they had raided his hideout 7 years ago all his family had been there and had been killed before his eyes. " That's why he was after me. I killed something that meant something to him and he was going to try and do the same to me."

"Oh Lee, I'm so sorry for fighting with you yesterday. I'll quit. I don't care. You're right it's dangerous work and no place for a mother of 2 boys and their brother or sister."

"Brother or sister?" Lee echoed.

"Yeah Lee we're going to have a baby. The doctor told me the day before yesterday. I had planned on telling you yesterday but I never got the chance." 

"Amanda I love you but you don't have to quit I was wrong yesterday. I'm so sorry. How about we compromise and see if Billy can find a desk job near me and help me out every so often. He found out about our marriage and so I think he'll help in any way possible. 

"I love you Lee," Amanda answered with a smile on her face not quite giving Lee the affirmative answer he had hoped for. Lee knew in the end that whatever his Amanda wanted to do would be fine with him as long as they were together and they were a family. 

As she drifted back to sleep. her thoughts were of the wonderful man she'd married and how wonderful their lives were going to be.

THE END


End file.
